For those who wish to escape the confines of party thought and think rationally. I'm Reno, and I'll be talking about news, politics, art, anything that catches my attention and/or wrath, but I'll be reporting it the way I see it. As the great Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson said, "So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here - not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms."

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Boy Scouts to Reconsider Ban on Gays Tomorrow

Last year, the Boy Scouts of America released a statement
which essentially said that they had reviewed their “membership policy” and
decided to keep it the way it was, despite what some people at the BSA itself
actually thought. Since then, the BSA has experienced a large drop in
membership as many parents are pulling their children out of the scouts while
others just aren’t joining.

The “membership policy” that I’m talking about is one very
discriminatory rule that the BSA has, which excludes certain people from
joining their organization. It is a rule which bans homosexuals from joining
the scouts, and after their decision last year many people have urged them to
reconsider this move, which they will be doing tomorrow.

The Boy Scouts have a pretty bad track record with
discriminating against homosexuals, and atheists. But this is all relatively new,
though. The Boy Scouts weren’t always this way, it’s just that they have been
hijacked by the religious right as of relatively recently. Many churches have
Boy Scout troops of their own and have a high stake in them, but no one has a
higher stake in the BSA then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
That’s right, the Mormons control a pretty large number of Boy Scout troops
across America,
more than any other religious organization in the country.

And of course, as usual, it’s become somewhat of a political
topic as of late. President Obama as asked the BSA to repeal their anti-gay
stance, and there is a whole movement out there to oppose them as well. One
petition, which was delivered to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in
Irving Texas, had an astonishing1.4 million signatures, asking the BSA to end
their ban of homosexual members.

But the opposition to this ban on the ban is also out there,
albeit their rhetoric on this one is illogical and completely incoherent (As
usual…?). Especially statements made by Rick Santorum recently, where he is
urging the Boy Scouts of America to keep their policy and continue to discriminate
against homosexuals saying, “[W]hen I saw that the Boy Scouts of America
executive board is convening on Wednesday to discuss abandoning the
organization’s founding moral principles that nurture boys into men, I was
saddened, but not surprised.”

Santorum went on to say that the Scouts are only doing this
because they are caving into pressures from “intolerant liberal mind(ed)”
people. But how is not allowing discrimination intolerance? Does he not see
that the comment he made is absolutely asinine? Does this man even know what
the meaning of the word intolerant is?

He also went on to say that the Boy Scouts should
stick to their moral roots on this one and not be forced to change to suit the
popular culture. But the thing is that the Boy Scouts were never always like
this. Their ‘founding moral principals’ are much different than what Santorum,
or any other Republican would like to say they are. Once again, a case of
politicians interpreting things in their own way to make a point.

FROM THE SCOUT MASTERS HANDBOOK 1972:

Rule number 1: You do not undertake to
instruct Scouts, in any formalized manner, the subject of sex and family life. The
reasons are that it is not construed to be Scoutings proper area, and that you
are probably not well qualified to do this.

Yet now sex and family life are being used in
the rules to exclude certain people that they don’t want to give equal rights
to. And it’s not the BSA’s original policy to do this; it’s the right-winged
religious folks who hijacked the BSA some years back and are now guiding its
policies.

The BSA says that it has the right to be
exclusive and not allow homosexuals the right to join because they are a
private organization that can do what it wants. And this would be true, if the
circumstances were slightly different. You see, in 1910 the Boy Scouts were
recognized by the government as an American patriotic group, and because of
that the BSA gets all kinds of great perks.

For one, the Scouts get public funding from
the United States
government. That’s public funding; the money that we pay into taxes goes to
support the BSA and their bigotry. For two, the BSA can use public land for
little to nothing. Most public buildings will allow Scouting troops to assemble
for just one dollar a year or nothing at all. Fort A.P. Hill, where the Scouts
hold their National Jamboree is rented for just one dollar. On top of that,
active military personal are used to help set up the event, which costs the
government around 5 million dollars every four years.

But let’s put all of that aside for a moment.
I think the major hypocrisy of the BSA lies in their own law, a law that
promotes trustworthiness, friendship, and kindness. It forces young people who
are homosexuals to keep quiet about it and act like someone else, lying about
who they are, thus breaking one of the Boy Scout laws? Do you think it is very
kind or friendly to try to teach children hate and intolerance of this caliber?

Another great hypocrisy is that the BSA
allows illegal immigrants to join their ranks, yet not homosexuals who are legally
in this country. This is weird when you think about it. Why would the religious
right be so strict on immigration, then turn around and say that you don’t have
to be a citizen of America
to join the Boy Scouts of AMERICA.

FROM THE BSA FAQ:

Citizenship is not required of youth or adult members.

Granted the FAQ goes on to say that if you are not a citizen
of the United States
they urge you to join a scouting organization in your own country. However,
they will not turn you away from the group simply because you are not a US citizen. That
translates as “Illegal immigrants? Yeah, their OK, but watch out for those
subversive fucking faggots! They ruin everything!”

I was in the Boy Scouts when I was younger.
It was a very cool experience for the time that I was there. I learned how to
start a fire and cook during a snow storm, learned how to use a compass to find
my way back home, self reliance, and most of all self confidence.

Although that self confidence began to fade
once I got older and began to realize who I was. Once I found out about the
Scouts policy on homosexual members I thought that maybe I was a bad Scout. So I
quit.

My boyfriend on the other hand nearly became
an Eagle Scout, but for all intents and purposes he is an Eagle Scout. He
finished out the entire program, even completed his Eagle Project. But before
accepting the rank of Eagle he backed out, saying that he wanted nothing to do
with a group that discriminates against gay people.

I’ve done a lot of Boy Scout bashing here, so
I have to throw it out there and let it be known that I don’t hate the Scouts.
I think they are a great organization that promotes great values and teaches
young men a set of skills that will stay with them for the rest of their life. This
is why I don’t understand why they won’t extend their hand and offer these
skills, which every young man should know, to a certain person simply because
they were born gay. As someone who cares about the community don’t you people
think that all young men, regardless of who they are, should have these set of
skills? Would it not make the world a better place?

Is it wrong to teach somebody how to tie a
knot, or build a fire, or hike, or use a compass when they are born a certain
way? Is this exclusive knowledge that only certain young people are allowed to
know? I mean, should I be shunned for teaching a homosexual how to find his way
home using a compass?

I would urge the Boy Scouts to highly
reconsider this membership policy, and put an end to discrimination within
their organization so that every young man, regardless of who they are, can
join this great organization and learn all that the Boy Scouts has to offer. I
have already sent them my feed back; I hope you will do the same.

Let’s hope that tomorrow they make the right
decision and end this policy of discrimination, so that all young men will be
treated equally and given the same chance to have an awesome experience like
everyone else.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About The Author

For those who wish to escape the confines of party thought and
think rationally. I'm Reno, and I'll be talking about news, politics,
art, anything that catches my attention and/or wrath, but I'll be
reporting it the way I see it. As the great Gonzo journalist Hunter S.
Thompson said, "So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look
for it here - not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think
of. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms."